A Storm on Midnight
by Stony Knight
Summary: A continuation of the storyline for Season 4 Episode: Midnight... because the others should know just who they nearly murdered.
1. Chapter 1

**Story Title:** A Storm on Midnight

 **A/N:** Since recently watching the Doctor Who S4 Episode: Midnight, I have had a ticked off plot muse running around in my mind. So here is the result…

 **Warnings:** None, really.

 **Disclaimer:** Doctor Who is property of BBC… I own nothing on that side of the Atlantic.

* * *

"So what the hell happened out there?" Donna asked once the Doctor finished telling her about the failed trip to the Sapphire Waterfall. He glanced at her in confusion. Her tone wasn't exactly angry, but it did hold a strong note of indignation.

"I just told you. We were attacked by an unknown alien entity. The other passengers panicked, fell into a mob mentality, and nearly murdered me. What more do you want to know?"

"I want to know what happened to you. It's not like you to lose control of a crowd of any size, at least not from what I've seen while traveling with you, Spaceman."

"I don't know exactly." The Doctor shrugged. "They just wouldn't listen to reason. I think the entity played an active part in making their panic worse, but I can't prove it for certain, not now."

"So the end result was that the other passengers refused to listen to you. And now here you are, half-sulking for lack of a better word, and needing to go convince the management to shut down their Leisure Palace and the tours on this planet." Donna shot the wiry man a critical stare. "You're not going to convince anyone of anything with that manner."

"I am not sulking!" The Doctor cried, glaring at his friend like she had just betrayed him. "I just had my voice and my ability to move stolen by some unknown alien hell-bent on murdering me. In all of my 900 years, I have never felt that helpless, that close to death. I was bloody terrified, Donna!"

The redhead reached across the table and clasped the Doctor's hands as he moved to stand, holding him firmly in place.

"I know, Spaceman, I know. But if you want to make sure no one else will die on this planet, then you need to remember who you are. The man before me now is not the same man I met on my wedding day when a giant spider-woman monster was trying to take over the world. He's not the same man who freed the Ood from slavery or chose to destroy Pompeii in order to save the entire planet. He's not the same man who took on a Sontaran war fleet or challenged the Vashta Nerada in the Library. What happened to that man, Doctor? Where is he?"

They sat in silence, staring at each other. Donna could see her friend's mood shift as her words sank into his mind. The lost, haunted expression faded from the Doctor's eyes to be replaced by something she remembered seeing when they had left the Library. It was dark and confident and determined. She knew it wasn't a new expression; it sat on his face too perfectly, too comfortably. But it was something she hadn't been privy to seeing in the past, not even in glimmers or shadows.

"You're right, Donna. I did forget who I am today. I tried to be human, because the thought that maybe I wasn't frightened those people more than I was willing to allow. And I let my curiosity and desire for discovery blind me to what they really needed me to be, the man who stops the monsters. I did them a disservice, and I need to rectify that."

"There's my Doctor." Donna smiled as her friend stood. She made no move to stop him this time.

"Let's go, then. The others should be in the medical suite, getting checked over and giving their statements. It's time I give my own." He held out his arm to his fiery, redheaded companion. Donna took it with a smirk, and together they made their way from the pool deck toward the medical suite.

Upon arriving, the pair found the other passengers from the ill-fated tour scattered around the waiting area as the Doctor had predicted. Dee Dee seemed to be ignoring Professor Hobbes, and Jethro sat huddled in the corner of a couch as far away from his parents as he could get while still in the same room. The crew from the rescue shuttle were standing around a receptionist desk, talking with a man that the Doctor assumed to be the Leisure Palace's manager. Everyone looked up when he stepped through the doorway with Donna.

"Where did you wander off to? You were told to report directly here after the shuttle returned to the loading area," asked the emergency medical technician who had been in charge of the rescue shuttle.

"I wanted to inform my companion of my safe return," the Doctor replied. "This is Donna Noble, by the way."

"Yes, that's all well and good," the EMT commented, "but we need your name for the paperwork."

"I told you, I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor who?" the manager asked.

"Just the Doctor."

"Oh, here we go again." Professor Hobbes rolled his eyes. "Your name, man, what is your real name?"

"This Leisure Palace, it has access to an extensive library network, yes?" the Doctor asked.

"Of course, but what does that have to do with your name?" the manager replied.

"Collections on Earth-history? Interplanetary conflicts?"

"Yes, yes, all of that. We provide our guests with whatever reading material their hearts desire." The manager crossed his arms and attempted to intimidate the Doctor with a commanding glare. "But what we need to know right now is your name."

"I told you. I am the Doctor. If you don't know what that means, then _look me up_! I'm not answering any more questions until you've done that much at least." The Doctor snapped out before guiding Donna to a seat on one of the sofas. Curious, the medical suite's receptionist turned to her computer console and logged onto the library system, figuring her manager would be too stubborn to do such research himself. One of the nurses called Val back to an exam room, distracting the EMT and the manager from trying to question the Doctor further.

"I think I've reached my limit on dealing with willful ignorance for one day," the Doctor mumbled. Donna hid a smile as she cuddled into the Doctor's side, watching him as he lay his head on the back of the sofa and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"All I wanted was a nice, quiet vacation. I thought you deserved that much, Donna, after dealing with the Vashta Nerada. All of time and space to pick from, and I thought, 'Oh, a nice, quiet planet orbiting an xtonic star. What could go wrong?' A lot, obviously. I should have stuck to somewhere I've visited before, like Barcelona maybe…"

"And where would be the fun for you in that, Spaceman?" Donna asked, reaching up to pull the Doctor's hand away from his face. He turned to look at her with his big, brown eyes, and after a moment, he offered her a tentative smile.

"It shouldn't be about me, Donna. I might be the one in the driver's seat, but in all honesty, the ride wouldn't be half as fun without you."

"I bet you say that to all your companions."

"Yeah, but it's always true." The Doctor's smile grew with the admission. "How 'bout after we get off this diamond cluster, we head home, pick up Martha from UNIT HQ, hop on over to Cardiff and kidnap Captain Jack, and then we'll go crash another party, sometime during the Renaissance or Ancient Persia or whenever your heart desires."

Across from them, Dee Dee had been eavesdropping on their conversation while pretending to fill out paperwork for the medical staff. Her curiosity, however, finally got the better of her, and she stood, walking over to one of the computer consoles in the waiting area.

"Dee, what are you doing?" Professor Hobbes asked.

"I'm going to look up the Doctor on the library system. I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we owe it to him to find out who he is. And if he's not willing to tell us directly…" She glanced over her shoulder at the skinny wisp of a man sitting with his redheaded friend. The Doctor gave her a small nod of encouragement, glad to see that today's events hadn't dampened the university student's desire to learn.

As Dee Dee began typing away at the computer, Jethro seemed to wake from his self-isolation and shifted so that he could watch the girl work. The Doctor shot Donna a hidden smile before whispering softly into her ear.

"It's good to see Jethro's not completely catatonic. He's a bright boy, lots of potential if he can avoid following the negative aspects of his parents' example."

"Even after what happened today, you still strive to see the best in humanity, don't you?" Donna asked, her voice rising back to a normal conversational level. Neither she nor the Doctor realized that her question had drawn the attention of most of the room's occupants.

"Next time you see Martha, ask her about her journey during the 'Year That Never Was,' and she'll tell you just how spectacular humans can be. We've seen it firsthand. I've seen it more times than can be counted, how they rise above impossible odds, how they can bring out the best in each other, their courage and their compassion, their endurance and their mercy, their hope and light and everything that makes them not only survive but thrive. They go from a few billion people inhabiting this tiny, little planet to billions upon billions spread out across the universe, expanding and exploring for billions and billions of years. They're fascinating and inspiring and beautiful and wonderful and so much more, and I love them."

"Even when they let you down?" Donna nudged, worried by the child-like enthusiasm glowing in the Doctor's eyes. He turned to look at her and reached up to stroke her cheek.

"Every race, every species has its negatives and its bad fruits. There are dark periods to every history. But humanity has always managed to rise above its darkest hours. The same can't be said about any number of other great races." The Doctor's eyes had gained the habitual sadness that Donna had come to realize meant he was remembering the Time War and the destruction he had been forced to bring down upon his own people. She gently pulled his head toward her and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Don't go there, Time Boy, not right now. You've had a bad enough day without revisiting old wounds."

The Doctor nodded and allowed Donna to pull his head against her shoulder. She ran her fingers through his spiky, brown hair, soothing him with her gentle touch.

"Tell me about this Captain Jack fellow," she requested, wanting to distract him from bad memories with thoughts of better times.

As the Doctor began speaking about the former Time Agent, Val returned from the exam room and took a seat next to her husband.

"Well those two certainly look cozy," she commented after glancing over at Donna and the Doctor. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone? Did that doctor finally give up his name?"

"No, he set them on some wild goose chase looking up 'the Doctor' on the library system," Biff replied, shooting a quick glare towards the pair on the opposite sofa.

"Actually, there is a surprising amount of literature on him listed in this system," Dee Dee spoke up, not turning away from her computer screen. "Right now, I'm looking over an abbreviated history of the Doctor on Earth, but apparently there are volumes and volumes written about him."

"Oh, Dee Dee, don't exaggerate," Professor Hobbes scolded.

"She's not exaggerating," Jethro said. He was reading over Dee Dee's shoulder, the pair speaking in whispers about things that caught their attention. Across the room, the receptionist was pointing out something she had found to the EMT and the manager. After studying her computer screen for a moment, both men glanced over to where the Doctor and Donna were talking quietly.

"Um, sir? Doctor?" the EMT called, pulling a stethoscope from around his neck. "Could you come over here for a moment?"

Both the Doctor and Donna gave the man a critical look before deciding to oblige the request. With reluctance, the redhead released her grasp on her friend and allowed him to rise. As he approached the receptionist's desk, the Doctor unbuttoned his suit jacket, knowing what was wanted of him. He shoved his hands in his trouser pockets and shot the EMT a tired glance as he met the man before the desk.

"Sorry, I just want to check something," the man said, ducking his face away from the world-weary gaze. With practiced efficiency, the EMT listened to the left side of the Doctor's chest before moving the stethoscope to the right. The Doctor watched with limited amusement as the man confirmed the truth of his physiology.

"A binary cardiovascular system," the EMT whispered, shaking his head in disbelief. "Two hearts. So you really are a Time Lord?"

"Last of my people, yeah. Keep reading and you may even discover why that is." The Doctor nodded. "Now, you lot want a statement from me on what happened today? I'll tell you. Four people died who shouldn't have. One gave up her life courageously to save the rest of us. If you're smart, you'll take my advice and shut down this Leisure Palace, move on, build elsewhere. Let Midnight continue to orbit its xtonic sun in silence."

The Doctor turned to Donna and offered her his arm. "I know we agreed to have dinner at that anti-gravity restaurant, but I'm not really feeling like eating out tonight. Why don't we head back to the TARDIS, and I'll whip something up instead?"

"I didn't know you could cook." Donna smiled.

"Well, it can be kind of hit or miss," the Doctor admitted, "so I'll let you pick the ingredients. Greater chance it'll turn out palatable to your human senses that way."

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 **End A/N:** So… Midnight is an awesome episode (one of my favorites), but I don't like the fact that the other passengers never really found out who the Doctor is.

I'd kind of like to continue following the thought exercise I've started with this story (I have several ideas I could use), but I'm going to wait for some feedback first. Suggestions are welcome.

\- Stony Knight


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Sorry it took me so long to get this second chapter posted, but I am having some difficulty plotting this story. I'm not sure where I'm going with it, but it still wants to be written.

 **Disclaimer:** Doctor Who and all of its wonderful characters, settings, and technology belong to the BBC.

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"You're not planning on leaving yet, are you?" Donna asked as she helped dry the dishes. She and the Doctor had just finished a surprisingly good meal in the TARDIS's kitchen and were now cleaning up.

"No. I want to make sure these people take my warning seriously, and I doubt they've seen enough of 'The Doctor, Last of the Time Lords' to do that."

"And what if they don't take you seriously?"

"I'm not sure yet. Worst case scenario, I evacuate the guests and the staff who will listen, give the others a final warning, and then broadcast the story of today's events to the whole of the universe." The Doctor shot Donna a grim smile. "I have plenty of enemies out there who are capable of wiping this planet out of existence in less than an hour. And a number of them would do it too, just on principle. They're not about to let some unknown alien upstart be the end of the Doctor when I've been the cause of so many of their defeats. Becoming the cause of my death is a privilege to be earned."

"I imagine they wouldn't be too fond of those people who were on the shuttle bus with you either," Donna commented. "You wouldn't really have this planet destroyed, though, would you?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Not on purpose, no. There are already enough dead races and worlds on my conscience."

"I'm sorry," Donna whispered, noticing the deep sorrow and regret that had returned to her friend's eyes. She dropped her dish towel and pulled the Doctor into a tight hug. He returned the gesture, burying his face in her bright, auburn hair and breathing deeply. The familiar scent of early 21st century Earth had saturated her hair and clothing over the course of her lifetime, and now it helped the Doctor anchor his mind in the present.

"Sometimes I just grow so tired, Donna, and I start to think that maybe it's time I stop running, stop exploring, stop trying to help."

"But you help so many people, save so many lives. I can't imagine you just fading away and stopping all that. It's about as absurd as you without a voice."

"You're right, of course." The Doctor gained a small, genuine smile. "Plus, I'd get bored, and me and boredom do not mix very well."

Donna laughed. "No, I imagine that would be a very bad combination. Now, what do you say we go out and enjoy the spa for a little while this evening before the management smartens up and decides to take your advice about shutting this place down? You could really use some relaxation after the day you've had."

"Alright, just let me go find my swim suit and I'll meet you out by the pool," the Doctor replied, stepping away from his redheaded friend and starting for the kitchen door.

"Oi! Those better be swim trunks, Spaceman! You're so skinny that you could use a handkerchief for a speedo, and nobody needs to see that," Donna called after him, prompting a laugh from the Time Lord. Donna turned to properly hang up the dish towel to dry before following after the Doctor.

0000000

The setting of the sun brought several other guests to the pool that evening, but neither the Doctor nor Donna minded much. They settled themselves on a private corner of the deck, ordering a pot of tea to share between them. The Doctor untied the belt of his terrycloth robe and sat down on the edge of the pool, dangling his lower legs in the cool water.

"That is so typical of you," Donna commented. "Brown- and TARDIS blue-plaid swim trunks."

"Do you have a problem with my choice of color scheme?"

"No, not at all. You look good in blue and brown. Wouldn't hurt to change it up now and again, though, don't you think?"

"I have an orange spacesuit I could wear around the console room." The Doctor offered, shooting Donna a smirk as he sipped his tea.

"Nice try, Spaceman, but I've seen inside your wardrobe, remember? I know you have a lot more than an orange spacesuit in there."

The Doctor shrugged. "Past lives, past tastes. And some of my regenerations were downright ridiculous with how they dressed, even by my current standards."

As the pair continued to talk softly about clothing and the Doctor's past lives, one of the other guests swam over to them. Recognizing the stranger as one of the other passengers from the tour, Donna was about to ask her to leave, but the Doctor spoke first.

"Hello again, Dee Dee. I see that the management finally released you from the medical suite. Everything went well, I hope?"

"I'm not sure I'd say it 'went well,' but after you left, things did wrap up rather quickly," the university student replied. "I just wanted to apologize again for not supporting you more and for failing to fight to be heard. I knew the others were wrong. I should have pushed harder to stop them."

"You tried. You did what you could. You don't need to apologize for that." The Doctor offered. "I failed in being heard today too, and it was hardly the first time I've had to face a frightened, unruly gang. Don't be too hard on yourself."

"Actually, I think that perhaps I haven't been hard enough on myself. I've been letting Professor Hobbes belittle me for months now, and I've started doubting myself. That can't be healthy."

"For a girl as bright as you? Probably not. So what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, first off, I'm going to stop asking Professor Hobbes for his opinion on various lines of thought and study. I want to discover new things, and what I saw of him today indicates that he's closed his mind to new discoveries that contradict his preset notions of how the universe works. I don't want to be like that."

"Good." The Doctor drawled, smiling. "And for your next step?"

"Start learning on my own again, become my own teacher. Find and make opportunities for discovery for myself." Dee Dee shot him a shy but inquisitive look. "Opportunities such as… I'd like to learn more about who you are, preferably direct from the source, if possible?"

"Hmm? That could be arranged." He glanced inquiringly at Donna beside him.

"It's your ship," she mouthed. "Invite who you want onboard."

The Doctor turned back to the university student, a thoughtful expression on his face. "What were you majoring in again?"

"Interplanetary geophysics."

A broad grin spread across the Doctor's face at those words.

"Oh, the places I could take you!" He murmured, a dreamy expression glowing in his eyes while he stared out across the pool at nothing in particular. Dee Dee shot Donna an inquiring look as the Doctor drifted off into his own little world.

"Oi, come back to us, Spaceman. No going into orbit without us, ya hear?" Donna gripped his shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. The Doctor blinked out of his daze and glanced between the two women.

"Right, sorry. Where were we? Oh, yes!" He turned one of his gleeful grins on Dee Dee. "So would you like to come with us for a trip or two, Dee Dee? I could show you any place, any time you wanted to see."

"So you really are a time traveler too and not just a space explorer?"

"Oh, yes. Grab a towel and dry off, and I'll take you to see my ship right now." The Doctor shifted to kneel on the pool deck and offered Dee Dee a hand to pull her out of the water. She giggled as the Time Lord shot her another of his infectious grins before she turned to Donna.

"Is he always like this?" she asked of the redhead.

"Actually he's much worse!"

A pool attendant brought Dee Dee and the Doctor some towels, and the pair dried off quickly. The Doctor then led his two female companions through the halls of the Leisure Palace, heading for the room he had been sharing with Donna. The TARDIS was parked inside.

Rounding the last corner between them and their destination, the trio picked up on the sounds of an argument emanating from a nearby room, its wooden door muffling the raised voices of two males and a female. After exchanging concerned glances with Donna and Dee Dee, the Doctor stepped closer to the door in question, wondering if he should intervene. The voices sounded vaguely familiar.

"… I don't want to go anywhere with either of you anymore!" The voices suddenly became clear as one of the males wrenched open the door and proceeded to leave the room. "I just want to go home so I can get away from you!"

The Doctor tried to dodge out of the way, but it was too late. Jethro slammed into the Time Lord's chest as he continued to shout over his shoulder at his parents. The Doctor caught the startled teenager and steadied him. It took Jethro a moment to realize what had happened, but when he recognized just who he had slammed into, the teenager burst into tears. Now it was the Doctor's turn to be startled.

"Hey, now, it's alright." The Time Lord pulled the boy against his chest again as he tried to sooth him. Jethro clung to him and buried his face against the taller man's shoulder.

"They tried to murder you. We almost did murder you."

"Shhh, I know. But it didn't happen. I'm fine. We're safe now. Everything's gonna be alright, I promise." The Doctor ran his fingers through Jethro's black hair, continuing to comfort him, as he glanced up at the boy's parents standing in the doorway of their room.

The couple looked like a pair of deer caught in the headlights of a vehicle. The Doctor glared. Just seeing at them, he could tell that Valerie was still in denial about the roll she had taken in that morning's events, and Biff still wanted to prove that he was the manliest man in the room. As much as he loved humanity, the Doctor couldn't help but feel disgusted by these two willfully-ignorant individuals.

"I think I'll take your son on a little trip. It seems to me that he could use someone to talk to who isn't utterly self-serving or possessed with preconceived notions about him or teenagers in general. Don't worry, though. I'll drop him off at home when he's ready to deal with your baggage again."

"You can't do that!" Val cried. "He's our son. That would be kidnapping!"

"Says the woman who tried to become an accomplice to murder."

"So what is this? Are you going to hold our son for ransom or something? Because if that's your plan, I'm warning you, we won't hesitate to call the police!" Biff attempted to snarl, but the expression in his eyes made it clear that the words were all bluster.

"I'm not going to demand a ransom or anything of the sort. Never had much use for money," the Doctor replied. "And calling the police won't do you any good. I'm a Time Lord. I'm exceptionally good with time and space. I'll have your son back home before you can even bother calling the police, regardless of how much time he actually chooses to spend with me and my companions, and the last I checked, it's kind of hard to report a kidnapping when the missing person is standing in the same room as you."

The Doctor paused to glance down at Jethro. The teenager's tears had slowed a little as he had listened to the Time Lord scold his parents, and now he was feeling tired as his emotion-fueled adrenaline drained away.

"Are you really going to let me come with you?" Jethro asked, his voice sounding groggy.

"If you wish to come with us, yes." The Doctor ran his fingers through the boy's hair again, smoothing it back into place as his previous ministrations had displaced it.

"Yeah, I want to come." Jethro sighed and tightened his grip on the Time Lord, trying to reassure himself that the man was really here, that he was really alright. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. I was just so scared, and everyone seemed to be talking and yelling at once. I didn't know what to do."

"It's alright, Jethro," the Doctor whispered. "Come on, then. My TARDIS is waiting in my room. Let's go and get you settled in it somewhere quiet for a while. Seems like you could use it."

* * *

 **End A/N:** So endeth the second chapter… for now. This is still a new fandom for me writing-wise, so I find reviews very helpful and encouraging!

-Stony Knight


End file.
